Beijing, March 14 (IANS) Juventus drew 1-1 with Fiorentina in an Italian affair in the home leg of Europa League eighth-final, while Napolis suffered a 1-0 defeat in its visit to Porto.
Although the leading striker Carlos Teves was forced out of competition due to injury, Arturo Vidal opened the scoring just 3 minutes into action after a perfect cooperation Thursday, reported Xinhua.
In the 38th minute, Andrea Pirlo passed the ball, Vidal’s header just hit the bar and missed the chance to double the lead. Mario Gomez equalized the score in the 79th minute. He followed the long pass by Josip Ilicic and scored his first goal after his return.
In the last minutes, both sides created opportunities but missed all of them. And the score 1-1 remained unchanged.
One week later, Fiorentina will come back to its home soil with one away goal.
In Porto, Jackson Martinez netted in the 57th minute. The 28-year-old striker scored a half-volley. And in the 82nd minute, the substitute Juan Quintero’s shot hit the left post.
In other games of the day, Tottenham Hotspur lost to Benfica 3-1, Betis enjoyed an away victory 2-0 over Sevilla, Valencia beat Ludogirets 3-0, Lyon downed Plzen 4-1 at home, Alkmmar defeated Anzhi 1-0 and Basel drew 0-0 with Salzburg.